N18,000 wage: Strike begins today, Osun labour insists

OSOGBO—LABOUR leaders in Osun State, Monday, insisted that the planned four-day warning strike over the unresolved N18,000 new minimum wage dispute with the state government would commence today(Tuesday) despite threat of non-participation by four unions affiliated to Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC.

It would be recalled Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE; Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, and the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, dissociated themselves from the planned strike.

Akinyemi Olatunji, State Chairman of ASCSN, had claimed the chairman of Joint Negotiating Council, JNC, Mr. Bayo Adejumo, who chaired the meeting where the strike order was given, was not competent to preside over such meeting as he had retired from the service of the Federal Government.

However, Adejumo said the warning strike would begin today unfailingly by all categories of workers in the employment of the state government.

He advised workers in the state to disregard a counter directive ordering members of some unions to ignore the strike, alleging that the state government was sponsoring some labour leaders in the state to divide the workers union.

According to him, an industrial court had ordered the state government to honour the agreement it reached with the workers on the payment of the new minimum wage across board.

He said the state government had been duly notified of the strike through a letter dated March 30, arguing that the strike would last for four days if the government failed to honour the agreement.